King Henry Lyrics - Pete Seeger

King Henry marched forth, a sword in his hand 

Two thousand horsemen all at his command 

In a fortnight the rivers ran red through the land 

The year fifteen hundred and twenty 

The year it is now nineteen sixty-five 

It's easier far to stay half-alive 

Just keep your mouth shut while the planes zoom and dive 

Ten thousand miles over the ocean 

Simon was drafted in sixty-three 

In sixty-four, sent over the sea 

Last month this letter he sent to me 

He said "You won't like what I'm sayin'" 

He said "We've no friends here, no hardly a one 

We've got a few generals who just want our guns 

But it'll take more than that if we're ever to win 

Why we'll have to flatten the country" 

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"It's my own troops I have to watch out for", he said 

"I sleep with a pistol right under my head" 

He wrote this last month, last week he was dead 

And Simon came home in a casket 

I mind my own business, I watch my T.V. 

Complain about taxes but pay anyway 

In a civilized manner my forefathers betrayed 

Who long ago struggled for freedom 

But each day a new headline screams at my bluff 

On T.V. some general says "We must be tough" 

In my dreams I stare at this family I love 

All gutted and spattered with napalm 

King Henry marched forth, a sword in his hand 

Two thousand horsemen all at his command 

In a fortnight the rivers ran red through the land 

The year fifteen hundred and twenty 

Photos 

The year it is now nineteen sixty-five 

It's easier far to stay half alive 

Just keep your mouth shut while the planes zoom and dive 

Ten thousand miles over the ocean